Nonlinear absorption (NLA) of hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) has been investigated through the open aperture Z-scan method for the photon energy of the incident irradiance slightly less than the bandgap of the sample. NLA responses have been observed to be highly sensitive to the wavelength and intensity of the incident irradiance as well as to the bandgap of the sample, indicating greatly tunable NLA of nc-Si:H. The band tail of nc-Si:H appears to play a crucial role in such NLA responses.
The light absorption coefficient of hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon has been engineered to have a Gaussian distribution by means of absorption modification using a femtosecond laser. The absorption-modified sample exhibits a significant absorption enhancement of up to ∼700%, and the strong absorption does not depend on the incident light. We propose a model responsible for this interesting behavior. In addition, we present an optical limiter constructed through this absorption engineering method.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.